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Team Science Showcase: The People and Partnerships Moving Microplastics Research Forward

Monday, February 9, 2026

How a small project between a university lab and a city water system grew into a national model

Public concern about microplastics and health has grown sharply over the past several years. Questions like “Are plastic cutting boards safe?” and “Should I drink out of plastic water bottles?” are prevalent, but straightforward answers to these seemingly simple queries are not.

While new research on levels of microplastics found in the human body has recently raised flags for many, scientists at the University of Rochester have been asking questions, building teams, and uncovering how environmental exposures impact human health for decades. With the knowledge, partnerships, and systems they’ve put in place through the University’s Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC), now celebrating its 50th year of funding from the National Institutes of Health, they’re poised to provide answers.

“The EHSC was built on the idea that the biggest environmental health challenges require teams that cross disciplines, institutions, and communities,” said Paige Lawrence, PhD, chair of the department of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. “Our microplastics work is a perfect example of how that model accelerates discovery. By bringing engineers, toxicologists, ecologists, and local partners together, we’re able to ask deeper questions and develop solutions that matter for people’s daily lives.”

The long-standing collaborative culture fostered by the EHSC led to the launch of the Lake Ontario MicroPlastics Center (LOMP) in April 2024. One of six federally funded Centers for Oceans and Human Health in the nation, LOMP marked the culmination of a decade of collaborative work among University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) researchers, community organizations, and local and state government to understand and reduce microplastic pollution in local waterways.

“Microplastics research in Rochester didn’t start with a single project—it started with relationships,” said Katrina Korfmacher, PhD, professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. “For years, our faculty have worked alongside community and government partners who are deeply invested in water quality. LOMP is an extension of the EHSC’s long-standing commitment to doing science in partnership with communities.”

Korfmacher co-directs LOMP with Christy Tyler, PhD, professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Today, their teams are working to understand how microplastics move through the Lake Ontario ecosystem and how they may affect human health under varied environmental conditions—research made possible by a discovery that connects back to the EHSC.

The Society of Toxicology Recognizes Professors with Awards

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Paige Lawrence, the Wright Family Research Professor and the director of the Institute for Human Health and the Environment, received the Society of Toxicology Education Award. 

Alison Elder, an associate professor of environmental medicine, received the society’s Translational Impact Award.

Congratulations to both.